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1990 Eisenhower Centennial Dollar SOCIETY FOR U.S. COMMEMORATIVE COINS A Not-for-Profit Corporation ANA Member C-123580 Since 1984 Society Officers .Anthony Swiatek Address: P.0. Box 218, Manhasset, NY 11030 E-mail: [email protected] Vice President.Robert Van Ryzin Secretary.Gary Beedon Treasurer.Mary Beedon Communications Chairperson.Vacant ANA Club Representative.Vacant Journal Editor.Gary Beedon DX Marketing, Savannah, GA prints The Commemorative Trail. Are You Moving? Please send us your new address. SUSCC Mailing Address: Gary Beedon P.O. Box 2335 Huntington Beach, CA 92647 E-mail: beedonfa)earthlink.net Telephone: (714) 963-6138 The Commemorative Trail Official Publication of the Society for U.S. Coins 2003, Volume 20, #2 Departments 2 The President’s Office 3 The Vice President’s Office 4 “TRAIL MIX” (E-mail, Letters & Misc.) 5 SUSCC Membership Articles & Features 6 Celebrating the 300th Anniversary of the Landing of the Pilgrims By Dave Provost 11 Cincinnati and Cleveland By John Merz 18 1946-1951 Booker T. Washington 1951-1954 Washington Carver - Booker T. Washington By Anthony Swiatek 32 Coin and Medal Designer Marcel Jovine By Dr. Thomas F Fitzgerald 35 1936 San Francisco - Oakland Bay Bridge By Anthony Swiatek EDITORIAL POLICY The Commemorative Trail publishes articles and features from a wide variety of authors and sources To preserve the integrity of the authors and the contents of items submitted, your editor often leaves most everything intact. It should be stated that the contents of the material and the opinions stated therein do not necessarily reflect the positions and opinions of the editor or the society as a whole. We are always in need of material to print. Gary Beedon, SUSCC Editor, P.O. Box 2335, Huntington Beach, CA 92647 E-mail: [email protected] 1 The President’s Office By Anthony J. Swiatek Greetings fellow collectors of this great nations remembrance preservers: I just returned totally exhausted from the central states show in St. Louis, MO. Such was rated VG- excellent by most dealers. High quality commems of the key and semi-key variety were difficult to procure. That was unless you wanted to pay some outrageous asking price. Here is an example: a beautiful NGC and PCGS Pan Pac half dollar which bids for $3,100.00 had asking prices of $4,500 and $4,700 respectively. Both were solid 66+ pieces. Neither had a chance for an MS-67 upgrade! At times I am asked by some collectors about the reason as to why a dealer or collector would pay such a steep price for an auction coin or convention purchase? The simple reason is these individuals believe their MS-66 purchase would upgrade to an MS-67 or even MS-68. I can assure you that there are many instances where the aforementioned does not occur. The purchaser is stuck with a vastly overpriced coin. Remember a recent auction where a dealer purchased an MS-66 coin housed in an old PCGS holder. Bid price was $6,500; he paid $29,000 for the com! Cracking out the com, he believed upon resubmission that it would grade MS-68 or even MS-69. He was in for the shock of his life. The coin graded MS-67. Yes, it went up one grade, but its value only increased to $12,000, after three resubmissions, the coin never rated higher. Nice loss. Please remember while a small percentage of coins housed in older NGC and PCGS will upgrade, a large number will not. Coins contained in the original NGC black holders will bring multiples of current bid levels because they are a true collector's items and so few exist today. Why? Many were cracked opened and the coins resubmitted for an upgrade. Currently, the classic silver and gold issues remain strong at current levels since they are receiving positive dealer-collector support. Expect a major promotion in the near future involving our modem commems, more on the said as I receive additional information. Numismatically yours, AvXfchx>v\y J. 2 The Vice President’s Office By Bob Van Ryzin I ve always believed that if you are going to profit in this hobby, you need to know everything you can about the item you’re looking to purchase, whether you consider yourself a collector, an investor, or a mixture of both. The more you know about your collectible, the better prepared you are against any pitfalls and to take advantage of any unrecognized bargain. Recently, I was asked to provide an article about coins for a publication on antiques. Looking through past issues of Coins magazine, which I edit, I came across a story by a Coins’ contributor on the round and octagonal Panama-Pacific Expo gold $50s. It explained, in what I thought was simple, straightforward language, why and when the coins were minted, how much they sold for at the expo, and gave some background on the designer, Robert Aitken, a well-known sculptor of his day. It also provided a bnef overview of the 1915 Panama-Pacific Expo in San Francisco and current values for its gold $50s. I was surprised to find the following day that the -editor of the antiques magazine felt the story was too specialized for the publication’s readers. They, I was informed, wouldn’t be interested in the artist’s background and what other expo and public statues he had to his credit. Rather, the readers of that publication preferred stories similar to “Are those Buffalo nickels worth anything?” or “What are the coins in Grandma’s drawer worth?” I had always believed that antique collectors were much like com collectors, wanting to know the background of the items in their collection. Certainly, in some cases, the only way to identify a genuine antique from a repro is to know the background and techniques of the shop or artist who created it. Plus, there are plenty of other collectibles than coins available from the Panama-Pacific Expo. I know, because I have a small collection of the same. There must be antique collectors out there who like such items as well and are interested in all aspects of the expo. In the end, when my other two ideas were not “antique” enough, the story on the expo and its gold $50s was accepted. And I vowed to write something less specialized for the next issue. Frankly, though, without telling the background, there’s not much to say about Buffalo nickels or other coins than their book value - even if they were held in some loved one’s drawer or cookie jar. So it’s going to be a short story. Fortunately, among commemorative com collectors there is no reason for concern with presenting too much information. They can’t seem to get enough. That’s one of the mam reasons the Trail is an outstanding publication. I never fail to find something of interest in its pages and have kept each issue and will continue to do so. There’s no such thing as too many good numismatic references. So, for the moment, I guess I’ll keep the “specialized” stories for those who appreciate the background - com collectors - and the general stuff for all others. See you in Baltimore. 3 ob- VWv 3 “TRAIL MIX” E-mail from Dick Johnson Gary Beedon, I furnished Dr. Tom Fitzgerald some of the information on mint sculptor T. James Ferrell for his article you published recently. (Noted in April 14th Com World). Could you kindly send me a copy of this issue? I wish to cite it in an entry on Ferrell in my upcoming directory, American Artists: Die sinkers. Engravers, Medalists and Sculptors. Thank you in advance. Dick Johnson E-mail from Jeff Tucker Gary, Could the society recommend any publications or sources of information on the 1936 Columbia, South Carolina commemorative coin? I have researched some internet sites for info, but am lookmg for some more definitive and in-depth information. Thank you. Jeff Tucker Jeff, Locate a copy of Commemorative Coins of the United States by Anthony T Swiatek Amos Press Com World, 2001. Letter (part) from Gary R. Koch “...Last year you very generously gave me an extra copy of volume 17/1 of the Trail, but there were at that time no extra copies of volume 17/2: is it possible to purchase one if any have become available?” Note: Contact Koch at [email protected] if you can help him locate a copy. 4 Membership SUSCC as of 5-7-03 New Members Reinstated Members R-3032 Joe Gorak R-1019 Cliff Launius R-3031 Dorothy Pais R-2295 W. Leeds Frye R-3030 Leldon Brown R-3029 Michael Whitney Resigned Member R-3028 Dr. John Cunningham R-3026 Thomas Allen R-2171 Judy Sidman R-3025 Thomas Fitzgerald Passed Away OPPS! R-2232 Brian Kestner In the last issue we had an incomplete name for a new member (omitted his last name). Member R- 3022 is Wendell Acker. Dropped (non-payment of dues) Note: Two dues notices sent. R-0715 Ann Adams R-0636 Pauline Miladin R-0175 David Anthony R-0088 Stan Minkinow R-2165 Col. Millard L. Berman R-0529 Robert Mish R-2048 David W. Boitnott R-1685 Jesse Patrick R--0403 Carol Chrzanowski R-1439 Robert Poxon R-1459 Merritt Davis R-3004 Corey Rennel R-? Al Doyle R-0060 Philip Roth R-2024 Alan Glenski R-2311 Gary Turner R-2072 Stan Flatanaka R-3008 Larry Williams R-2316 Martin Hee R-1001 Wayne Wojdak R-0364 Bradley Karoleff R-3012 Michael Anzalone R-1652 John Knachel J-3002 Chris Paci R-2365 Julie Krause SUSCC MEETINGS: June 7, 2003, Long Beach, CA: Member Clark Fogg will give a special program titled “Digital Photography & Commemorative Coins” on Saturday (9:00 am in room 102A) at the SUSCC meeting at the Long Beach Coin, Stamp & Collectibles Expo in California. August 2, 2003, Baltimore, MD: Members Anthony Swiatek and David Provost will both conduct the meeting and program (titles?) on Saturday (10:00 am in room 316) at the SUSCC meeting at the ANA World’s Fair of Money. 5 Celebrating the 300 Anniversary of the Landing of the Pilgrims By Dave Provost /\ s ^ neared the end of the trail in my pursuit of a choice-to-gem mint state type set of the -tA. traditional series of US commemorative coinage, I began to seek out commemorative ephemera with more and more intensity and enthusiasm. Over the past three or four years, I have been able to acquire many of the ongmal com holders of the series, as well as many contemporary publications related to the people, places and events commemorated. This has added a whole new dimension to my collecting of this terrific series! Recently, I acquired a program from the December 21,1920 ceremonies held at Plymouth, Massachusetts to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the landing of the Pilgrims. The ceremonies were sponsored by the Pilgrim Tercentenary Commission of Massachusetts, Louis K. Liggett, Chairman. The text-only program presents the order of events for the ceremonies, and includes the text for the various odes, hymns, poems and addresses that were part of the event. Figure 1 presents the inside title page of the 68-page booklet. The ceremonies began with a musical overture performed by the Plymouth Orchestra, and were followed by a prayer lead by the Rev. Arthur B. Whitney and the performance of an ode originally written in 1824 by the Rev. John Pierpont; the ode was performed by the Plymouth Men's Chorus. The ode began. “The pilgrim fathers — where are they? The waves that brought them o’er Still roll in the bay, and throw their spray, As they break along the shore: Still roll in the bay, as they rolled that day When the Mayflower moored below, When the sea around was black with storms, And white the shore with snow.” A brief address by then Massachusetts Governor Calvin Coolidge came next. At the time of the ceremonies, Coolidge had already been elected Vice President of the United States as part of the Warren G. Harding ticket and would leave Massachusetts for Washington, DC just a few short u eeks later. V hen Harding died of a heart attack while on a trip to California in August of 1923, Coolidge was sworn in as the 30th President of the United States; he was re-elected in 1924. Coolidge's speech offered high praise for the Mayflower passengers, describing their cu c omplishments as mighty and leading to "an empire magnificent beyond their dreams of Paradise." Figures 2 and 3 present the full transcript of Coolidge's speech. 6 Coolidge's speech was followed by the reading of "1620 -1920," a poem by LeBaron Russell Briggs, LLD, a Harvard professor. The poem balances a reverent tribute to our nation's early settlers with a contemporary warning against complacence in a world that was host to multiple threats against our nation and our freedom. Such a call to vigilance was understandable considering that the hostilities of World War I had been concluded little more than two years before on November 11,1918. After the poem, the Plymouth Men's Chorus performed a hymn entitled, "The Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers. The Honorable Henry Cabot Lodge, long-standing Republican Senator from Massachusetts (he served from 1893 to 1924) followed the hymn with a long oration that included the following: "When we approach an anniversary the first question which confronts us then is whether it holds a place among the rare events which may be called decisive, or is memorable only to those who celebrate it. The inquiry, as a rule, is easily answered by a little reflection, and the great and decisive events of history are usually beyond dispute... "Can we, then, justly place what happened here at Plymouth, and the men and women to whom we owe the great act, in the small, high class of "decisive" events due to the actual doers of great deeds? Clearly, I think we can. Jamestown and Plymouth were the cornerstones of the foundations upon which the great fabric of the United States has been built up, and the United States is to-day one of the dominant factors in the history and in the future of the world of men." The ceremonies concluded with another hymn, this one written by William Cullen Bryant, performed by the Plymouth Men's Chorus and the following simple, eloquent Benediction by the Rev. Theodore E. Busfield, D.D. "May grace, mercy and peace from our Great God and Father be with us and with our country, as in all the days of the past, so in all the days and years to come. Amen." While no mention of the Pilgrim commemorative half-dollar is included in the program, it is possible that profits from the sale of the coins helped to fund the celebratory event. The 1920 Pilgrim commemoratives went on sale in early November of 1920, thus giving the Pilgrim Tercentenary Commission approximately seven weeks of sales prior to the official celebration to generate funds. The full contents of the program are an interesting read and offer a contemporary glimpse mto the commemoration of one of our country's greatest moments. If any member of the Society would like a copy of the program for their own research and educational purposes, contact me at P.O. Box 354, Morrisville, NC 27560. I will be happy to send either a photocopy of the program or a scanned electronic version as a PDF file on a CD-ROM. All that I ask is that interested members include $5.00 to reimburse me for the cost of photocopying (or the purchase of a recordable CD-ROM) and postage. Until next time. Happy Collecting! 7 8 1620 1920 EXERCISES ON THF. Three Hundredth Anniversary OF THF. Landing of thl Pilgrims HELD AT PLYMOUTH, MASSACHUSETTS TUESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1920 Figure 1 8